Transportation Secretary Leslie S. Richards has signed an hours of service waiver to extend the maximum driving time to 14 hours for motor carriers engaged in the transportation of food, feed, dairy products and pharmaceuticals to food processing, distribution retail and wholesale food establishments.

The waiver is effective of Jan. 24, 2016, at noon and remains in effect until January 28 at 12 a.m.

Exemption is also granted from the requirements of the 60/70-hour limits rule. This rule requires drivers to stop driving upon accumulating 60 or 70 on-duty hours (including all on-duty and driving time) over a period of seven or eight consecutive days, respectively. Any period of seven or eight consecutive days may end with the beginning of any off-duty period of 34 or more consecutive hours.

Drivers are reminded that the waiver must be in their possession when traveling extended hours. This also only applies when the contents being transported are exclusively listed under the "Type of Operation."